The present invention relates to a fishing device which is used to tow a fishing line away from shore or from a stationary boat and carries suitably baited hooks to various positions in the water. The device is driven by an electric motor and propeller. The starting and stopping of the motor, the direction and the depth of operation is controlled by tugs on the fishing line. The invention enables the angler to position a baited hook or lure at various points on and in the water where he suspects the presence of fish without his acquiring the considerable casting skill required to do this with conventional fishing gear alone.
A number of battery-operated, guidable fishing aids appear in the prior art. Curtis, for example, (U.S. Pat. No. 3,758,975) utilizes a relatively coarse steering means to adjust the direction in which a pear-shaped, propeller-driven bobber moves. The shape of the vessel makes for poor steerability and low drive efficiency from the battery-motor combination. The line-controllable boat of Holling (U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,516) provides for the turning of a rudder by means of a line operated loop of wire which is attached to the rudder post. This arrangement is operable but requires considerable manipulative skill on the part of the angler. The troller of Jackson (U.S. Pat. No. 2,804,712) uses a fishing-line-operated switch to start stop and reverse an electric motor drive so that the troller can be made to retrace its original path and return to its starting point. The fisherman however needs to manipulate the line horizontally as well as vertically inorder to drive the switch into various modes. No rudder is provided. The fishing line towing device of Lumsden (U.S. Pat. No. 2,693,047) utilizes two lines--a control line and the fishing line--to manipulate the device.